Color My Cosmos
by hebinek0
Summary: Lucy Heartfilia lives in a world where everything is seen without color until you meet your true love. When she accidentally runs into a disheveled looking boy with a particular tattoo, her once normal life is flipped upside down. Whether it was for the better or worse, she's not sure.
1. Prelude

Oh no, oh no, oh no, oh no. I was going to be late. Of all days to have detention it had to be today. Just because I was reading in the middle of Trig, my teacher told me I had to stay after school in detention. Why.

After spending two hours stuck in the library with those kinds of people that get into trouble for fun and fail school purposely and get into fights for no reason, I wanted to rip my hair out. They ripped papers out of books and crumpled them. They smoked and talked smack about people and _destroyed the precious books._ I could feel my face burn with anger even now, as I kept running towards the studio. One of them had claimed he saw color, but I'm not sure. People like him like to lie and joke about serious topics. I know all about color. I've read about it in plenty of books. There's a color called orange that's warm and comforting and one called blue that's deep and fresh. There's apparently thousands more existing in various shades. My father used to tell me stories of how bright and beautiful he saw the world after he met my mother. He was always so descriptive and told stories that could only be dreams. Except they weren't. Sadly, my mother died when I was young. My father doesn't live in hues anymore.

Next to getting into the Fairy Tail dance academy, my dream is to find color. My father says he doesn't remember it very well, but that he knows you won't see it until you meet your true love. Maybe when I get into Fairy Tail, I'll meet an amazing dancer and we'll fall in love, get married, and have a daughter who will grow up to be a dancer like me and we will live happily ever after in color for the rest of our lives, dreaming of the day our daughter sees color for herself. I sighed happily to myself as I kept running to Fairy Tail. Man, I was so late.

My mind couldn't stop forming scenarios around either my marriage to a hot, _colorful_ dancer or about how pissed Aquarius was going to be and the horrible things she would possibly do to me when I finally got there. My thoughts and emotions kept jumping back and forth, keeping me preoccupied as I inattentively ran. In fact, I was so inattentive that I didn't even notice the boy running towards me with twice the speed. Or maybe twice the weight. Either way, when we collided, I earned a bruising feeling in my forehead and a heavy weight on top of me.

"Ngh..." I brought my hand up to the sore spot on my head and rubbed it. Ouch. Bad move. That will definitely leave a mark.

I felt the weight on top of me move. A boy sat up and rubbed his head with a groan. My vision was a little blurry but I could make out his features. He had crazy, wavy hair that stuck up in every direction and large, dark eyes that stared down at me. He was wearing a tank top and baggy pants with sandals. Interesting choice. Not only that, but he insane enough to wear a lined SCARF in the middle of May in Magnolia.

"Hey are you alright?"

His most noticeable feature, however, was the red Fairy Tail tattoo on his right shoulder. My eyes almost bulged out of their sockets.

' _The boy on top of me right now is a member of Fairy Tail Academy,'_ I thought excitedly. I couldn't believe how my luck had turned.

He had a red Fairy Tail tattoo. A Fairy Tail tattoo. A red tattoo. Red.

Red.


	2. A Brighter World

People always ask me what I think 'color' is like, but I don't know why. It's not like I've seen it. I don't even really believe it exists. I mean, it's kind of hard to imagine something so undescriptive. The folks at Fairy Tail, the dance school I hang out at, describe it as if it were tangible. Alzack, Bisca, and Erza are the only ones that have actually seen it. Erza says she's seen it ever since she was a child. They say there's one called 'green' that's fresh and happy no matter the shade. Apparently the trees and other plants are commonly 'green'. I always ask them to tell me about 'red'. It's said to be… warm… sometimes intense. That's what I like about it. It has two sides. Erza says I have that in common with it.

I ain't a downer, though at the same time, I often have hard times believing in what they say. They aren't crazy, I know that. I've known these folks since I was five. Maybe younger. I don't really remember. Anyways, I guess you won't see color until you see your true love, which I don't fully believe either since I've loved meat since childhood but I still haven't seen anything yet. Whatever.

Erza told me my hair is 'pink'. It's soft and romantic, she says. How ironic.

She also told me the sun isn't white, and it is, indeed, 'yellow'. Yellow is another one of my favorites. It's bright like red and full of life. It seems to match me much better.

Anyways, enough about that. Yes, Erza knows lots about color and I have soft hair both physically and… colorly. But right now, I'm actually running. Yeah, running, which isn't a new thing to me. I run all the time for various reasons. Sometimes it's because I'm late to the guild, (that's what we members of Fairy Tail call it) but usually I'm just running from Erza because I pissed her off and she's a monster. Happy is usually here to help me screw with her, but last time we did, she threatened to cut the amount of fish he got. Poor guy has been too scared to get on her bad side for a week now. It's not as fun alone but it's better than hanging around that pervert Gray.

A few minutes ago, I was taunting Erza, telling her she was crazy about the colors she saw. Of course I don't think she's crazy, I mean, maybe a little, but not because of the whole color thing. I just wanted to mess with her. I've been so bored lately with Happy hiding in the corner behind the bar by Mira all day, doing anything to avoid Erza. I needed SOME kind of entertainment. Anyways, I don't even know why I'm running. I mean if a fight was what she wanted, I could take her. I could take her just fine. Just fine.

So that was precisely what I was going to do. I came to a halt and swiftly turned around. I stood firmly with my head held high and my arms crossed. And I waited. After I had stopped, it didn't take her long to catch up. When she saw me looking into her eyes, she stopped too. She walked up just close enough for us to stare each other down. I glared into those dark, firm eyes. Those eyes that were probably… what was the name for it… black. Just like her soul.

And nope I wasn't doing this today. I started running again. I ran and ran and ran but each time I looked past my shoulder, she was still there. The sun was beginning to set but she showed no sign of giving up. Well two could play at that game. I'm an athlete. I could run for hours straight without a break. Days, weeks, months, years. Just to show her that, I picked up my speed. My bangs flew out of my eyes as a result from the breeze into my face. My sandals pushed against the ground harder each time as I breathed in and out. I couldn't remember the last time I ran so fast. Of course I'd always had the potential, I just never used it. My vision was going blurry, probably because I was going so fast.

I thought I saw something in front of me but I ignored it. Whenever I ran away from Erza, people knew to move out of the way. But this thing was getting rapidly closer and closer and didn't show a sign of moving and oh god as I expected, it was a person. I tried to stop, and my efforts worked to some degree. I got slower but I didn't stop in time to collide with a girl. It wasn't just my fault. She had been running too. The next thing I knew, I was pushing myself up and rubbing my head. Was that blood?

I looked down past my palm at the girl under me. Her eyes were only half open and she was bleeding too. Her hair pooled around her face around her, while she laid half-conscious on the ground.

"Oh shit are you okay?" I quickly asked her as I propped her head up. Her deep eyes stared up at me. I saw them slowly travel down to my shoulder where my guild tattoo was at. Her hair was covering her face so I tried, as gently as I could, to pull it away. I brought my fingers up to her face and pulled away a soft strand. It was… bright and full of life. I brought it up to my eyes. It was… yellow.

I looked around. People were staring. Tsk. Where was the nearest hospital? In fact, where was _I_?

"Um… excuse me?"

I turned around to see a young girl with bright… uh….what was it called? Nevermind. Her hair was bright. Not like the girl I was holding. It wasn't golden, no.

"You two.. are uhm… bleeding a lot. I am a doctor in training. I can give you first aid… If you'd like…" she fumbled with her words and wouldn't look me in the eyes, but she had a cat with her, so she seemed trustworthy enough.

"Alright, I'll leave things to you then," I said, setting the girl down.

She timidly walked up to the girl and pulled some kind of tape looking thing out of her bag and a bottle of who knows what. She also had tweezers and cotton balls for some reason. "I'm going to clean the wound," was all she said.

I curiously watched over her shoulder while petting the white cat as blood ran down my face. She gently dabbed a cotton ball over the girl's forehead where it had hit mine. She seemed to be in worse condition than me. I always did have a hard head. After cleaning up her wound, she carefully wrapped the cloth around her head, tying it in a knot at the end.

"I'll clean yours now," she said, turning to me.

I sat down next to her with my legs crossed and closed my eyes tightly as the cotton touched my head. Whatever she put on it was cold. And stung.

"I'm sorry. It will be over soon," she quickly apologized after I flinched.

"Nah it's cool. Thanks for helping us out."

"Of course. The nearest hospital is 5 miles from here and all of the wagon rentals have already closed for the day," she said.

I nodded as she finished tying the bandage around my head and looked up to see her pick up the cat. "This is Charle. She's an exceed," she said with much more comfort than before.

"Hello," the feline simply said.

"An exceed!? You have one too?" I asked, surprised.

An Exceed is just an ordinary cat, except it can talk. And fly.

"Too?" she asked. "You also have an exceed?"

"Yeah, his name is Happy!" I beamed. I'd never met someone else that had an exceed. Happy would be thrilled.

Just then, the brightly headed girl sat up, slowly rubbing her head. "Ugh… What happened?" she asked nonchalantly. She turned, her eyes lighting up when she saw us.

"He- hello," the younger girl welcomed.

"Hello," said Charle

She said hello to them, her eyes a little wide. Maybe she's never met a talking cat. Then she turned to me.

"You!" was all she said.

"Hey," I replied with a smile.

"I'm so sorry for running into you! I really am, please forgive me! Don't sue me!" she said in one breath.

"It's cool. I was running too. Party my fault," I replied. As much as I didn't want to admit it, it _was_ partly my fault.

I saw her relax a bit then turned to the young girl. "Did you wrap my head up?"

"Huh? Ye-yes!" she nodded.

The girl smiled then said, "I still feel bad for causing this and feel in debt to you," she started, turning to the young doctor, "can I treat you two to something at the café down the street?"

"Three," I corrected. I don't know how she missed Charle.

She looked down at Charle and smiled. "Of course, my mistake."

Charle's wings sprung out and she flew up to the yellow-haired girl's height. "We accept your kind offer," she said.

But the young girl quickly added in, "Are you sure it's no trouble?"

"Of course."

I watched the conversation, unnoticed, until the 3 of them turned to me. "What?" I asked.

"Will you accompany us?" the blonde girl asked with a smile brighter than her hair.

I couldn't think of any reason not to go, I mean free food. You don't reject free food. Also, I was really mixed up with the whole… color thing. I don't know what happened but when I collided with that girl, my world became brighter.

"Sure," I nodded with a grin.

She smiled back wider and stuck her hand out. "Lucy. Lucy Heartfilia."

Lucy. I took her slim hand in my callused one and shook it. "Natsu Dragneel."

We stared at each other for what must have been several seconds before she turned to the other girl and stuck her hand out again.

"Oh uh- Wendy... Marvell," She stuttered out. "And this is Charle," she said while gesturing to the cat.

"Hello," Lucy greeted formally.

"Pleasure," Charle smiled, shaking Lucy's hand with her tail.

Lucy turned to face all of us and said, "So I was thinking we could go to Hargeon for tea or something."

"Actually," I started, grabbing their attention, "I have a better place in mind."

"Where is that?" Charle asked

"Just follow me!"

Wendy looked a little nervous but gave a little smile and shrugged at Charle before running up to catch up with me. I looked over my shoulder and saw Charle face palming (or pawing?) as Lucy laughed softly. Lucy was next to run up to us, Charle shortly after, releasing a sigh. Together, we ran down the sunset lit streets to the best place to get free food: Fairy Tail.


	3. The Only Fairies I Know Have Tattoos

Natsu led us down the sidewalk, laughing, as the sun set in the west, painting the sky the most beautiful color I'd seen yet. It was so warm and faded into other colors in other areas. I wondered… did he see them too? Normally I would never just go running off with a boy I just met, but this was different. According to the tale, this boy was my true love. But, what if he wasn't? What if it's not true and we don't work out? Even with all these thoughts clouding my mind, two things were for sure: I could now see color, and Natsu was a dancer at Fairy Tail.

About Fairy Tail, see, I am the best dancer at Celestial Academy. It's a great school, but well, it's not _the best_. I always aim higher than my body physically accepts, which often leads to hospitalization, but if it means I'll win a competition, it's worth it. The thrill of performing and the thrill of exceeding my own expectations are feelings that will never be topped. I guess my head dance instructor, Aquarius, noticed my dedication because she applied a date for the two of us to meet the head instructor of Fairy Tail. And that date was two hours ago, so basically I'm screwed. There's no point in going now since the instructors and Aquarius have probably already left after an awkward wait for me. The situation sounds terrible, right? Well it is, but for some reason I can't bring myself to be genuinely upset which is kind of strange. I guess finding my supposed true love who is a dancer of Fairy Tail and being able to see color has lightened my mood. I still feel like I should be upset. But I just don't.

"Here we are!" I heard Natsu's voice call out as we stopped in front of a large, old fashioned building that could only be… Fairy Tail?

I thought we were going out to eat? What is happening? "What? Natsu, why did you bring us here? I don't unders-"

"THERE YOU ARE, YOU LITTLE BRAT!" I flinched as a loud, all too familiar voice rung out.

There she was my dancing instructor, Aquarius. She wore her long and smooth hair gelled back and it was the color of the sky. Her eyes were as well, only a darker shade. She had a pretty face, but always had an unfortunate scowl on it. She stomped towards me, radiating anger. She was pissed, but that was to be expected.

"WHERE HAVE YOU BEEN?!" she hollered at me, completely ignoring the others. But then again, Natsu was ignoring her too. He was talking to… was that… Mr. Makarov! Fairy Tail's head instructor! Aquarius' booming voice snapped me out of my daze, "You are two hours late! Do you have any idea how important this meeting was!?" she screamed out, huffing, trying to regain her breath.

I wanted to tell her to keep her voice down. I wanted to tell her the dance instructors of Fairy Tail were staring and that it would just make my chances of getting in worse. I also wanted to tell her my new friend Wendy looked like she was about to pass out. But she wouldn't care. She never cared about any of that. So I stayed silent.

"I hate to interrupt, but is this the Lucy you were talking about?"

Aquarius turned around and I looked behind her at a very short, old man smiling up at us. It was Mr. Makarov. "Ye- yes." I stuttered out.

"Fantastic. Call me Makarov. I've seen you at some recent competitions. You're quite skilled, and according to Natsu here, you're a nice person," he said with a smile.

 _What was going on?_

"Uh, thank you very much, sir!" I managed to let out.

"Yes, you are talented and nice. But to join Fairy Tail, you also need to have room for and be open to improvement and making yourself not only a better dancer, but a better person. You also need to be nice, but that doesn't mean you should be weak. Be firm and strong and say what you mean and mean what you say. Stand up against your opponent and give everything your all no matter what it is," he said, staring straight into my eyes. "Exceed the limits of society, for that's what it takes to be a member of Fairy Tail!" he declared, raising his right hand with his fingers in the shape of an _L._

Natsu did the same hand sign and cheered. Wendy and Carla smiled brightly and Aquarius' expression seemed softer than usual, and it's possible mine did too. Makarov brought me inside the building and told me I could sit anywhere. To my surprise, it looked nothing like a dance studio. The floorboards and walls were wooden and as old fashioned as the exterior. The ceilings were high, draping big, colorful flags with Fairy Tail's symbol on them. The entire bottom floor was one large room filled with picnic tables. At one end of the room was a small bar with a few stools seated at it. A girl who looked like she was cleaning something was standing behind the counter. There were surprisingly a few people seated at one of the tables, despite how late it was. On the other side of the room was a large stage with big… red. Red curtains were drawn back on the sides. Makarov was making his way over to the girl at the bar to tell her something and Natsu was right behind me.

"We can sit anywhere," he said, walking in front of me to sit at a random table.

Suddenly, out of nowhere, a cat came flying through the air at us. I ducked just in time to avoid a second collision; one today is enough. "NATSUUUUU!" he hollered in a high voice.

So another cat with wings that could talk, and this one was blue. Though in a world like this one, I suppose anything could be considered normal just as much as it could be considered 'strange'. I smoothed out my skirt and sat down on the bench across from Natsu who was laughing with the cat.

"Lucy! This is Happy! He's my best friend!" Natsu introduced, gesturing to the cat who was now sitting on the table.

"Hello," was all I could think of to say at the moment.

"Ney, Natsu! I caught a lot of fish today!" Happy beamed.

 _He completely ignored me._

"What? No way! We'll fire up the grill and eat them for dinner! Let's go! See you Lucy!" Natsu's words all came out at once as he was already running out the door, Happy flying right behind them.

"Um.. Charle and I are going to head home too. It was nice meeting you and Mr. Natsu," I heard a voice behind me say.

I turned around and saw Wendy smiling shyly and Charle looking unamused. "How rude of you two to ignore us like that," Charle huffed out. "Oh well, it doesn't matter. We'll be leaving now."

The two of them turned to walk out the door. I had to say some kind of goodbye.

"Wendy!" I called out to her.

She turned around quickly and looked up at me with big brown eyes. "Huh?"

"Thanks," I smiled, "for healing me. And Natsu. It was nice meeting you and Charle. I hope we meet again someday."

The two of them smiled back widely and Wendy replied, "I do too."

And then they were gone.

Aquarius was still standing in the back by the door and now Makarov was walking up to me with the other girl behind him. "Lucy," he started, "this is Mirajane. She is going to give you your tattoo."

What

"Wait, what?!" I heard Aquarius ask for me.

"Hm?" Makarov asked with just as much question.

"She shows up two hours late and doesn't get interviewed but she gets accepted anyway?" Aquarius asked, confused.

"We were never going to interview her anyway. I don't know where you got that idea. This is a dance academy, not an office building," Makarov answered, simply.

I wasn't really sure what was going on but I guess I was… accepted.

I was going to become a member of Fairy Tail.

Aquarius seemed no less surprised than me as her jaw visibly dropped.

The girl named Mirajane stepped up to me with a sweet smile that I got the feeling was forced but came across as genuine. "Where would you like it?" she asked sweetly.

"Uhm.." I honestly had no idea. I had thought about it plenty of times before but never came up with a good spot. I wore skirts a lot so I considered my leg, but then it would never be seen in winter. I wanted it in a spot it would always be seen because if I ever somehow joined Fairy Tail, it would be my pride.

"My hand," I said, raising my right hand to her.

"Excellent," she said, smiling. "Come with me."

She led me to a back room behind the bar and sat me down in a chair. Makarov and Aquarius stayed behind to chat about whatever, maybe something about me moving studios, I don't know. She told me to lean back and relax, though it was kind of hard to calm down when I was about to have a needle on my skin. I didn't have any tattoos and before learning about the tattoo all Fairy Tail members were required to get, I didn't even consider ever getting one. But here I was. How did this happen? It all started with Natsu. It all came at me so fast. Literally.

"Do you know how this works?" she asked me.

I gulped. "N-no. I've never gotten a tattoo before," I said in a shaky voice.

"Oh I didn't mean that. Fairy Tail tattoos are special. Our founders created a rather magical type of tattoo that no one else has ever used." I looked at her confusedly. What was she talking about? "See," she continued, "when Fairy Tail tattoos are initially applied, they come across as a whitish color, but slightly translucent. However, in 24 hours, it becomes the color the owner associates with the most. For example, Natsu's tattoo is red because of his fiery attitude, his love for excitement, and his d-" she stopped suddenly, but a smile quickly crept back onto her pale face. "Well, I think you get the point."

"Mirajane," I started, quietly.

"You can call me Mira," she said with a bright smile.

I smiled back. "Mira…Do you… see color?"

She looked at me with an expression that I couldn't identify. Her smile stayed in place but her deep eyes wandered.

"Yeah…"

"I do."

A/N

WOAH are there any people still reading this? Probably not. I haven't updated in how long? Well if there ARE any people still reading this for some reason, THANK YOU and I'm so sorry it's taken so long to update. I have a life too, you know? (I've actually been doing nothing. Tumblr, mostly.) Anyways, I'll try to get back on track. If you read my other fanfiction, Soul King, it's on hiatus right now as I want to focus on CMC right now. Is that okay? Please don't hate me. I'll stop talking and start working on the next chapter now. Hopefully it will be longer...

-hebinek0


	4. Pleasure & Praise & The Good Old Days

_"When Fairy Tail tattoos are initially applied, they come across as a whitish color, but slightly translucent. However, in 24 hours, it becomes the color the owner associates with most."_

LUCY POV

I cracked an eye open at my right hand raised above me as I lay on my bed. It was still white as I had just gotten it last night. I would have to wait until tonight to find out what color it would be. I couldn't help but feel bad for members of Fairy Tail who couldn't see color, therefor not seeing the color of their own tattoo. I sighed and brought my hand back down and pulled my comforter up and hid my face. There was no school today, but I had to go to culinary class in less than an hour. I hated it. I was no good at it like my mother was.

 _Mom…_

I covered my eyes in the crook of my elbow as I felt them sting. I didn't want to cry. I didn't even think I could after how many hours I've spent doing so. Somehow I had yet to run dry.

I lied there for a few minutes longer, remembering the books she used to read to me, the cookies she baked, the stories she told…. And I started crying again. I hated myself for this.

I threw the covers off of myself and shakily stood up. I walked into the bathroom connected to my bedroom and began to get ready. As I brushed my teeth, I thought about Natsu and his sharp canine teeth, which led me to thinking about dragons somehow. How nice it would feel to fly, the wind against your face, your hair flowing behind you, the feeling of freedom. How nice.

I brushed my hair and thought about Natsu's… um… pink. His _pink_ locks, that I could never look away from. Now that I think about it, I don't recall seeing anyone else at all on the streets with the same hair color. It's a beautiful color, so warm and happy. Kind of like Natsu. I bent over and ran my fingers through my bottom layer of hair and collected all of it together before standing up straight and wrapping it all in a ponytail, my bangs being too short, falling to the side of my face. I washed my face and remembered Natsu's tan skin and how bright his expression was. I gave my eyelids a small wing with eyeliner and thought about Natsu's big black eyes and I couldn't stop thinking about that guy, I just couldn't. He was… my true love? It sounds so sappy when said like that but…. How could I stop thinking about someone when they are supposed to fall in love with me and I'm supposed to fall in love with them? You can't, and neither can I. It's just not possible and I could not stop freaking thinking about him. At least it made me stop thinking about my mother…

Mom….

I wonder what she would think of Natsu… She would say he's full of energy and that I need people like that in my life. She would say he's very handsome and that I also need that in my life, which, I really do. I can only hope she would think he's a good dancer. _I_ don't even know if he's a good dancer.

I can't wait to see him dance.

NATSU POV

"AY, YO HAPPY, LET'S GO!" Happy and I accidently slept in an extra hour resulting in us only having 5 minutes to get ready, but I had surprisingly gotten ready in 3 after cutting breakfast and teeth and hair brushing out of my schedule. "We'll eat when we get there, let's go already! What do you even have to do to get ready?" I called out into the kitchen from the door. We live in a one story house just outside the outskirts of town, but honestly, the town is so small that it only takes 10 minutes or less to walk to the guild from here. We were already late but Pops probably wouldn't care that much if we were late by a few minutes. Just as I was about to yell out to Happy again, he came flying around the corner, carrying a large container threatening to fall from his small grasp.

"I'm ready!" he called, stopping in front of me. The container was going to slip any moment.

"Happy, you didn't need to pack fish, we're gonna eat at the guild. Mira has plenty fish for yo-"

"But this is the special fish I caught yesterday! It's the most delicious fish I've ever had!"

"They probably have fresh fish that was caught this morning," I told him with a smile. "But whatever floats your boat."

We stepped outside and walked along the trail until we made it to the entrance to the town shortly after. Happy ate fish as we walked, the container still in his grasp, somehow. It was the size of him. We continued walking down the streets, headed for Fairy Tail.

LUCY POV

I slowly walked down the stairs, careful to not make a sound. I made sure to skip the second step from the top, for it creaked like hell. After reaching the bottom, I peered around the corner. Father should be in his office upstairs still, but I couldn't be too careful. I tightened my grip on my bag's leather strap and made a run for it to the front doors. I didn't get far before a deep voice rang out from behind me.

"Oh, you're ready? I'll drive you then."

Shoot.

I slowly turned my head and peered at him from the corner of my eye.

"Good morning, Father," I greeted firmly, turning to face him fully.

"Good Morning, Lucy," he greeted in return. "Just let me get my shoes and I'll give you a ride to class. You're late enough as it is," he said, turning to the closet to pull out his black loafers.

"That's very thoughtful of you, but I can walk," I responded, maybe a little too quickly.

He looked up at me from where he sat on a cushion, with suspicion, his expression still neutral.

"You won't make it in time," he pressed further.

I bit the inside of my cheek. "I would if I hadn't run into hindrances at the bottom of the staircase."

He stared at me with a hard expression and stood up. He walked towards me, making me back up into the doors.

Coldly, he said, "I know you've been skipping classes."

My eyes widened. How did he know?

"I don't know what you are referring to," I lied.

"Lucy!" he yelled, making me hit my head against the door again, "Don't lie to me! You think I don't know about anything, but I do! You think I didn't know you got detention yesterday and that I didn't know about Fairy Tai-"

"How do you know about that?" I interrupted.

"Aquarius called me," he answered.

I sighed and ran my fingers though my bangs. Aquarius can't keep her mouth shut about anything.

"Why didn't you tell me?" he asked, though he didn't sound hurt. It was his same, damn, monotone voice that didn't care about anything.

"You never asked."

He sighed and sat back down. "Listen, Lucy…" he started.

"I'm sorry, but I can't, I have somewhere to be," I cut in, turning to open the door.

"Do not walk out that door," his voice said sternly. My hand froze on the handle. I don't know why I listen to him. "Do not go to that guild," he continued.

What? He can't be serious right?

"And why is that?" I asked, finally turning back to face him head on and crossing my arms.

He was silent for a few long moments, but finally he answered, "Because I said so and I am your father."

I actually laughed at that, making him raise his eyebrows, unamused. "You can't _actually_ be serious right now. When have you _ever_ been a father to me since mom-" I didn't need his wide eyes to make me stop dead in my tracks. "No… What I meant was-"

"I don't want to hear it, Lucy. You are not going to that academy and that's FINAL," he said, slamming his fist on the table to his side.

I can't believe this. I seriously, sincerely, gravely, solemnly,-

"And why should I care what you want!?" I shot back. "Why should I listen to you and do what YOU want? I couldn't care less about your opinion!" His eyes were still wide and empty and he stared down at his hands. "All you care about is work and money and nothing else! You want me to cook and sew and paint and do ALL these things that mom used to do, just so you can get the perception she's still with you because you don't care about my existence! You never did!" I was huffing and out of breath because I hadn't been breathing at all through my stupid rant. He was silent. And so I continued louder. There was a lot that needed to be said. "You want me to be just like mom, but when I try to do something like her, something I _enjoy_ and am actually _good_ at, you tell me I can't do it?! Just because you, what, don't _want_ me to?! What the hell am I to you!?" My breathing was getting ridiculous and I was sweating and feeling kind of light headed and I might have screamed that last part loud enough for the neighbors to hear, but HELL if I cared.

He wouldn't look at me. He kept his head low, held in his worn out hands, silent. I turned and walked out the door. And I left.

NATSU POV

"I'M STARRRRRRRRVINGG!" I threw the doors to the guild open and stomped inside, Happy to my left.

"AYE SIR!" he called out.

"Happy, you ate on the way and didn't share any of your fish," I glared at him.

I ran over to Mira at the bar and hopped onto one of the stools next to where Cana was seated; drinking what was probably her tenth beer of the morning.

"Good Morning, Natsu. Happy," Mira greeted us.

"Mornin', Mira. I'm starving, anything with meat."

"Already ready for you," she said, holding up a plate filled with various mouthwatering foods.

Mira's the best.

"Aw, gee, thanks Mira!" I said, to which she replied with a smile.

Damn it was delicious but was gone all too soon.

Just then, one of the doors was opened and someone walked in, but I didn't see who.

"Oh, it looks like the new girl is here," Cana said after taking a long gulp of her… like twelfth beer.

Lucy?

I hopped off the stool and pushed through people (it was crowded today) to get to her.

Lucy…. Thanks to her, I see the world in a way beyond believable.

I ran up to the front where she stood kind of awkwardly to welcome her.

"Hey, Lucy!" I grinned.

She immediately smiled back widely and said, "Hey! I know I don't have a scheduled class today but I thought maybe I could… maybe… use one of the studios?"

"You want to dance now?" I asked kind of confused.

"Uh, yeah. If that's okay," she nodded.

"Yeah, it's cool. I doubt anyone is using any of the studios right now, except maybe Erza," I answered.

"Uh, cool. Okay, yeah, uh.. If it's not too much trouble, could you, like, show me where…." She trailed off.

"Oh! Right! Yes. I can show you," I nodded and started walking off towards the direction of the hallway leading to the studios. "We have some small ones and then we have some large ones, but you have to reserve those…" I called out over my shoulder. She was close behind me and I saw her nod. "Though I doubt anyone's using any of them right now so it might be okay."

"That's okay, I don't need a large one," I heard her say.

"Alright…" we stopped in front of a, uh.. um.. the door was a light color, and I opened it , stepped inside, and flicked the light on. "Here you are."

She stepped in behind me and looked around. Like I had said, it wasn't large but it was big enough to dance in. The floor was a light colored wood and the three walls that didn't contain the door were all mirrors. The one the door was on had fairies painted on it and there was a large clock hanging from a nail. In one corner of the room was a small cart with an old fashioned stereo on it and stacks of CDs under it. There were bars on the far side of the room for balance, and other than that, the room was empty. She turned to me and smiled, forming dimples on her cheeks. Her big brown eyes beamed and her cheeks were a light pink. She tucked a blonde strand of hair behind her ear and said, "Thank you, this room is perfect."

I think she probably expected me to smile back, and then be on my merry way, but I just kind of stood there. Like I was stuck or something. I tried to smile and it probably made me look like it was forced and I was in pain or something, but my feet wouldn't move. She just kind of stood there awkwardly too, and for a few stiff seconds, we just stood there, staring at each other.

"Do you want to dance too?" she asked suddenly.

"Ah, no. No, that's 'k. I'm too tired this early in the morning and I just ate breakfast…"

She looked at the clock. "It's noon," she said blankly.

"Yeah, well…" I honestly didn't know what else to say.

"Well, thanks for showing me where the rooms are. I'm going to start now," she said, turning and walking to the center of the room.

"Yeah, that's okay," I said.

That didn't really make sense, but she's not saying anything about it. I walked over to the painted wall and slid down it till I was sitting on the floor and I crossed my legs and I watched her. I watched her stretch her arms and pop her back and bend down and I watched her hair fall perfectly around her face and her golden ponytail sway from side to side. Her legs looked strong, like they weren't overly thin, and so did her arms. She looked like she worked out a lot. She probably did. She had taken off her sweatshirt, so all she was wearing now were pink shorts and a black sports bra revealing a V and a slight six back and big-

I looked away.

I crossed my arms and looked down at the floor.

When I did look back up again, it was when she called my name.

"Hmm?"

"Are you going to watch me dance?" she inquired.

"Is that okay?" I asked.

In that moment, she flashed me the most sincerely jubilant, toothy and bright smile I've ever seen.

"It's great!"

And I found myself smiling back harder than ever before.

"So, I've been working on choreographing this dance for a competition," she said, walking over to her bag which sat on the floor near the door where I sat. She kneeled down and pulled out a CD in its case and walked over to the stereo and put it in. It was quiet for a few moments as she walked back to the center of the room for it to start. Her arms lied simply at her sides and she looked down.

The music started and she began moving in graceful motions. There were no words; it was just a piano and maybe a violin playing. Her movements matched the sounds in perfect compatibility. Her eyes were closed softly and her steps were fluid and smooth. I watched her every move. The speed started to pick up and the music started getting more intense, yet it was still peaceful. And I watched her fast, hard movements as she kept up with the music and even with this choreography, her expression was neutral and peaceful. The music suddenly stopped for a millisecond, and so did she, but then the music continued back to its peaceful state it was in in the beginning. She didn't continue though, instead she breathed heavily and opened her eyes at me.

"That's all I have so far."

"That was incredible! You have amazing rhythm! And it went with the music so well! You really choreographed that?" I asked.

"She got the CD from the stereo and smiled. "Yeah."

She walked back over to her bag to put it away and after doing so, she pulled out a water bottle and took several gulps.

"You should talk to Levy. She's our best choreographer, but don't tell any of the others I said that," I said.

"Levy? Is she here today?" she asked.

"Nah, I don't think I saw her in the common area. She's probably at the library, she works part time there," I said.

"Oh… interesting," she nodded.

"Yup... She'll probably be here in a few hours though," I said. "If you want to stick around or leave and come back or something."

"Yeah, I was planning on staying here most of the day anyway," she said. She wasn't smiling anymore.

"Did something happen?"

"Huh?" she asked suddenly. "N-no… Not really…" she said, looking at the ground.

She's kind of terrible at lying.

"Are you sure?" I asked.

"Yeah…" she nodded, still not looking up at me.

I scowled. "Come with me," I said, grabbing her bag in one hand and her wrist in the other.

"He-hey!" I felt her tense, but she didn't fight against me.

I pulled her down the hallway, through the main room, squeezing through people, and out the doors. Somehow my hand had slipped down to hers from her wrist, but I wasn't complaining and neither was she.

"Come on," I grinned.

"Where are we going?" she inquired.

"Anywhere."

A/N

Thank you so much for reading chapter 4! I hope you guys are liking the story so far as much as I am! Thank you so much for all the great reviews, they really are one of my main motivations for updating. Of course, critique and advice or ideas are always welcome. See you in chapter 5!


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